Love it when people put the words “Labour” and “camp” next to each other.”

But Joseph is pratikament priministru.

No, it was JOSEPH and the opposition who brought about, single-handedly, change in Libya.

I’m not saying it’s a walk in the park. I would just consider the risks if the EU were to unanimously take Jeffrey’s stand.

The criteria are stringent but the political situation as well as the army’s excuse to take on the secular cause with the resulting tension shouldn’t be ignored.

After all, both Spain and Greece went through their own phase of the military dabbling with democratic rule only a couple of decades ago

Maybe the Turks consider the EU what we used to think twenty years ago.

Let us say supporting their bid would be taken to mean trusting the goodwill to satisfy the criteria.

Regarding the Kurds, could their interests be better served if Turkey were to have the backing of the EU, given the feedback essential of the Iraqis?

We’re back to the US if that’s the case.

As for the Ottoman heritage, shouldn’t that put them closer to Vienna than we would ever be?

‘the main Nato base in eastern Europe’

And there were instances where they were quite unreliable as allies during the last decade.

‘It’s a secular state, and has looked west since Ataturk.’

Secular is not necessarily liberal. The military top brass and the traditional guardians of Ataturk’s secular legacy were quite authoritarian The current government is quite busy undermining Ataturk’s work too.

‘When considering it’s other bordering countries, Syria, Iraq and Iran, some form of integration makes economical and strategic sense.’

But have you considered Turkey’s ambitions as a nation and their recent political history? This was a country that tried to use a Nato summit to impose its will on another nation, Denmark. It has a history of bullying lesser states.

Turkey’s interests are never going to be other EU country’s interests. Its Balkan neighbours are particularly afraid of it.

As with Russia, geopolitics alone is enough to render it unsuitable to join the EU.

Byzantium my Theodosian foot. Modern-day Turkey has a rather dim view of that Byzantine heritage, and has all but supplanted it with Ottoman heritage in its national psyche.

Look, I know JPO isn’t exactly flavour of the month, but in our rush to heap ridicule upon the man, we shouldn’t forget that there are very rational arguments on Turkey’s EU membership, and indeed, on its European identity.

‘Daphne – Have you been to a village in Gozo (or Malta) recently? It’s like being in Frankfurt, isn’t it?’

So? I suppose you’re not going to ignore the fact that the population in those villages is not as large as Turkey’s. I wasn’t trying to argue that we were somehow better as people than they were either.

What if Turkey succeeds in overcoming the present difficulties, subscribe to the criteria and accelerate the democratic process?

It borders the Mediterranean, has some of the largest docks and shipbuilding industries, lies squarely next to the Caucasus, is the gateway to the black sea and has been for the past sixty years, the main Nato base in eastern Europe .
It’s a secular state, and has looked west since Ataturk.
If the Turks wish to be integrated, why look the other way?

True, the Cypriot question and the admission of the genocide are sticky issues, but would isolation help? When considering it’s other bordering countries, Syria, Iraq and Iran, some form of integration makes economical and strategic sense. Using it to cushion the EU risks alienating the population amplfying the Islamists’ power.

Coming out against Turkish ‘culture’ the way Jeffrey did denotes outdated right wing thinking. Especially since he didn’t mention the democratic issues currently at stake.
If the accession process serves as a catalyst for change, so much better.

The EU was born in Rome, it’s evolving to Byzantium.

Which Turks are European? I’d agree that the Istanbul-is and other Turks living in the Western parts are quite Westernised but that seems to change as you go eastwards particularly when you approach the Kurdish regions.

[Daphne – Have you been to a village in Gozo (or Malta) recently? It’s like being in Frankfurt, isn’t it?]

Given Turkey’s stances regarding the illegal occupation of N.Cyprus, its policies towards minorities such as the Kurds, some of their laws regarding freedom of expression and their current government it’s incompatible with the EU.

[Daphne – You miss the very obvious point that Turkey CAN’T JOIN THE EU unless those matters are solved.]

One of the main reasons why the Turkish government was considering joining the EU was because accession would have inhibited the military top brass from staging coups and ousting them.

Now that quite a lot of the generals have been imprisoned it will be interesting to see how things play out.